<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The Act by lockdownwriter</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278086">The Act</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockdownwriter/pseuds/lockdownwriter'>lockdownwriter</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Mentions of homophobia, Slow Burn, lets hope i can add more tags later</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 04:20:31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,225</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29278086</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lockdownwriter/pseuds/lockdownwriter</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lizzie's sister reveals to her that she is Divergent, Lizzie sees no other option but to follow her into Dauntless to try and protect her. But with Lizzie being Erudite through and through, the initiation process turns out much harder than she expected and soon it becomes unclear who needs protection from whom. Things become only more complicated when a certain leader comes closer to discovering the sisters' secret...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eric (Divergent)/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Act</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hi guys, glad you found your way to this fanfic! :)</p><p> I don’t have too much to say right now, except for these short notes before we get into it:</p><p> - This fanfic starts out on the same timeline as Divergent. I am thinking about continuing into the storylines of the later books, but for now, the Divergent timeline is also the timeline of this story.<br/>-      I will be mixing some elements from the books with elements from the film.<br/>-      In this story, Choosing Day happens when you are 18.</p><p>Other than that, I hope you enjoy reading and would be super happy to hear your thoughts/ have you follow along with this story! :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>Are rules supposed to protect you from something or are they a means of control?</em>
</p><p>
  <em> It depends. A good rule is a deduction from circumstance, based on observations and knowledgeable predictions. It can protect you from all sorts of things because its core is solely informed by all possible favorable outcomes. It’s supposed to make you behave in a way that makes that outcome attainable to you. </em>
</p><p>
  <em>Bad rules, on the other hand, are a means of control. They aren’t aimed at achieving a generally satisfying result. Instead, they are mostly created by individuals striving for power. They might benefit you in the course of their enforcement, but you will never be the person whom they have been written for.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Elizabeth had often wondered whether the rules of their city were truly only meant to protect them. Whether they could be improved upon. It had occurred to her that some strategies and plans might be more beneficial for one group than they were for another. Even within her own faction, whose members were supposed to always judge objectively, personal desires and needs seemed to seep into decisions, to tarnish the system’s clarity, and to alter its very core values.<br/>
It was in her nature to question these things. Her parents and her faction had raised her to be a critical thinker after all. How else was she to attain the knowledge that could improve their lives? At least, that was the way of thinking their leaders tried to teach them aggressively. She knew that no rule should go intellectually unchallenged. And yet, on this particular night, she couldn’t help but wonder what her life would be looking like if her sister didn’t question the rules as much.</p><p> </p><p>It had been the day of the aptitude test for both of them. Elizabeth had been nervous, but not too anxious. She knew in her heart what her result would be. She’d grown up in Erudite and found this to be her place of belonging. Knowledge was extremely important to her, and curiosity was one of her most prominent personality traits. She could lose herself in research projects for days, only resurfacing to discuss her findings with similarly obsessed minds. The near-constant stream of intellectual stimulation she experienced in Erudite made her feel alive. It made her feel like there was a place in the world that was carved out for her, for her alone. She only had to take it.<br/>
But she also knew that this wasn’t the case for everyone. Her sister, for example, seemed to feel the exact opposite. She always looked slightly out of place, exuding a sense of anxiety and agitation anytime she had to face their faction's traditions. Elizabeth knew that their ways would likely be parting after the Choosing Ceremony. It weighed heavily on her heart to think that the most important person in her life would just step out, never to be seen again. But she also knew that it was for the best. It was the only way Clarissa could ever find a similar sense of serenity and fulfillment as she felt in Erudite. She also knew that their parents knew. They never spoke of it and didn’t love them any less for it, but they could see Clarissa’s discomfort, her loneliness amongst Erudite. Sometimes Elizabeth wished she could talk to them about her, to discuss where Clarissa was most likely to belong. But she’d never dared to speak of it, knowing that any such discussion would have broken one of the core rules around initiation. You weren't allowed to talk about your aptitude test or about your decisions before Choosing Day.</p><p> </p><p>At dinner, Elizabeth noticed that Clarissa wasn’t really being herself. She kept shuffling her feet under the table, dropping her fork twice while trying to cut up the plain meat on her plate. Judging from the worried glances they exchanged, their parents must have known, too. Yet no one spoke up. Elizabeth was sure that Clarissa had known her results wouldn’t be Erudite for as long as she had known. She couldn’t be that surprised. Maybe the test had shown her something she didn’t want to find out about herself?<br/>
Irene, their mother, did her best at trying to diffuse the tension. She babbled on about her day in the lab, trying to engage each of them in a deep discussion on her research methods. Usually, Elizabeth would have killed to be a part of this conversation. Their parents usually kept their work strictly to themselves, since children weren’t supposed to be involved in Erudite’s work before choosing their faction. Hearing their mother talk about her work felt like a bonding ritual, a delicious secret Elizabeth would keep in the back of her mind forever. Yet with her sister shaking beside her, it was different. She couldn’t concentrate and failed to feign an interest in her mother’s arguments. After half an hour of awkward conversation that led into a blank space of nothingness, the siblings were excused from the dinner table.<br/>
 “I advise you to take some melatonin and head to bed early today. Tomorrow will be exhausting enough as it is,” their father said with a voice so somber that Elizabeth couldn’t help but wonder what other messages he tried to give them without actually speaking out. She felt the dire need to hug her family, to hold them close and shield herself off from the outside world for just a few precious moments. But she also knew better than to follow her impulses. Erudite families weren’t necessarily cold, but they tried to implement reason into their every action. It wouldn’t be considered reasonable for her to feel as anxious about a change in paths that was for everyone’s best.</p><p> </p><p>The girls headed to the upstairs area of the apartment, each keeping to themselves. There was nothing they could say to one another at this point. No words could convey the heartache Elizabeth felt when she thought of letting Clarissa go. They’d been inseparable for as long as she could remember, and it pained her to know that she couldn’t do anything to take the pressure off her sister now.<br/>
Shortly before going to their rooms, they turned around to face each other. Tears were dwelling in Clarissa’s eyes and Elizabeth felt a clump form in the pit of her stomach. They fell into each other’s arms.<br/>
“I love you. You know that right?", she mumbled into her sister’s hair, placing a gentle kiss on the side of her head.<br/>
“I love you too. More than anyone else.”<br/>
After holding each other for a while, they collected themselves, straightening their clothes and smiling at each other. Clarissa looked like the mess that Elizabeth felt. They continued their separate ways into their individual bedrooms, each following their routine and knowing that it would be their last night in this place. Even Elizabeth wouldn’t be returning to this apartment. She wondered what would happen to her relationship with her parents. Would it go back to normal once she got through initiation? They surely couldn’t act like total strangers to one another, even if a lot of families seemed to choose to follow that path, especially in Erudite.<br/>
Elizabeth put an elaborate mixture of creams and tinctures on her face as she did every night before bed. Some of them were supposed to quicken cell turnover, hopefully preventing her skin from showing too many aging signs later in life. Other ingredients were supposed to target and prevent any possible diseases and prevent cell damage. It was one of the many perks of being Erudite: She felt safe within these walls that echoed the scientific journey of centuries. Knowledge, as far as she was concerned, was not only the tool to overcome the weakness of the human mind and its temper tantrums. It was also their future. It was the way to treat a broken system from the inside. And most importantly, it would keep her safe. It could make her see any possible danger from miles away. As scary as the days ahead seemed, she knew she was making the right choice.<br/>
The thought calmed her down a little as she crawled into bed, even though she was sure that even with her melatonin she wouldn’t be getting much sleep. It was only enough for her to eventually drift off into a semi-conscious state, a state that let her put her anxious thoughts to rest. A state that made it possible for her to momentarily shut out the desperation she’d seen in her sister's eyes that day.</p><p> </p><p>Elizabeth didn’t realize how much time had passed when suddenly her door creaked open. There was still no daylight coming through the windows over her bed’s headboard. It must have been late at night. She didn’t worry about the creaking. She knew that it was Clarissa before she reached her bed and pulled the covers back to invite her in.<br/>
“I’m sorry, Lizzy. I just couldn’t sleep,” she mumbled while lying down beside her. Elizabeth loved it when Clarissa called her Lizzy. Erudite was all about formality and elegance – no one called her by that nickname except for her sister. Elizabeth was a “proper” name. Lizzy wasn’t and neither was Cissa, the nickname she’d given her sister. It felt like their own personal code of affection.<br/>
 “It’s okay. It’s normal to be anxious before a big choice. Your body is supposed to be on high alert to properly assess all options…,” she drawled sleepily before realizing that Clarissa was actually crying.<br/>
“Cissa, hey… it’s not that bad. I’m sure you’ll choose right. It’s okay. It’s all gonna be okay.”<br/>
But Clarissa was inconsolable. She started sobbing and buried her head in her sister’s shoulder, stifling the pained sounds only slightly. Elizabeth was lost for words. They shared a deep connection, but sometimes she felt like she couldn’t exactly understand what was going on in Clarissa’s head. Her thoughts seemed to be elusive, jumpy, too unstable to grasp them before they dissolved. It angered her, it always had. Clarissa was one of the very few people she couldn’t figure out entirely. Sometimes it made her feel like she wasn’t smart enough. Now it only made her feel helpless. Why was she so distraught, so desperate?<br/>
“I have to tell you something. You can’t tell anyone. You really can’t. Not even Mom and Dad,” Clarissa said after a while, sitting up suddenly, some kind of determination flashing over her face. Elizabeth shrugged and sat up next to her, taking her sister's hands in hers.<br/>
“Of course.” More reassurance wasn’t needed. They knew that they could fully trust one another. Clarissa drew in a sharp breath before switching into the matter-of-fact tone she used around the faction compound.<br/>
“My aptitude test went wrong. Not wrong, just… it gave me some results that I wasn’t expecting. I’m not Erudite, but I’m not one of the other factions either. I have combined traits of Erudite, Dauntless, and Candor. It makes me Divergent.”<br/>
Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. In all her research on the factions, on serums, and on the aptitude tests of previous years, she’d never encountered even the smallest mention of Divergents. It made a lot of sense, though. Why she had had a hard time figuring out which faction Clarissa would eventually transfer to. Why her sister always seemed so out of place, but not out of place enough to actually be a disturbance within the faction.<br/>
“But… What does that mean? What are you supposed to choose?”, she asked, trying to keep her voice as soft as possible so as not to add any more push her sister further. She saw Clarissa’s shoulders sink in the dark. Her posture gave her away: This wasn’t good news.<br/>
“That’s the thing. The girl told me it wasn’t supposed to happen. She actually tried to help me. She put Erudite in as my result and told me not to tell anyone. She said that some people want to hurt Divergents.”<br/>
It felt like a punch straight to her core. Elizabeth had a hard time processing the news she was just given, her thoughts hopelessly racing through a brain still drunk on melatonin.<br/>
“Who wants to hurt you?”, she whispered through pursed lips, trying not to freak out – both for herself and for her sister.<br/>
“She didn’t say. She didn’t say much, actually, about anything. She just sent me out of the room and acted like it was dangerous to even look at me. It was so scary, Lizzy.”<br/>
Clarissa started crying again and Elizabeth pulled her into another hug. It seemed like the only true comfort she could provide at this moment. What on earth was she supposed to do? What could you say to someone who’s just gotten a massive target on their back?<br/>
“What are you gonna do, Cissa?”<br/>
“I don’t know. I really don’t. I just… I needed to talk to you, but now I feel shitty for even doing that in the first place because I like… I didn’t want to pull you into this and I really don’t know what I’m doing and…”<br/>
Elizabeth squeezed her sister’s shoulders immediately, trying to stop her from talking. Under different circumstances, she would’ve been angry at Clarissa for making her break the rules. But not now. Maybe she would have even done the same in her shoes.<br/>
“Cissa, it’s okay. It really is. I’m not mad at you. But that doesn’t really help either of us now, does it? We need to come up with a plan and we need to base it on what we got.”<br/>
Clarissa seemed to be reluctant, but she knew it was true. It was their only option, and so they started mulling things over. They reached the same conclusions over and over again, turning in circles and getting nowhere. After what felt like an eternity, they settled on the one solution that seems the most obvious: That they would stay together, in Erudite, where Elizabeth could watch over Clarissa and where they knew the customs and traditions. If you don’t want to draw any attention to yourself, you have to fit in with the crowd. That wouldn’t be possible anywhere but in the place they knew best. And even though they agreed on their plan, deep down Elizabeth felt like she was missing an important detail.</p><p> </p><p>The next morning flew by in a blur. Their mother had found them curled up together in Elizabeth’s bed. She’d given them a strange look but kept her comments to herself. Their parents had given up on trying to teach them the elegant form of Erudite’s family bonds long ago.<br/>
Elizabeth felt like she was semi-awake in a nightmare. Nothing felt real. The breakfast tasted like nothing. The conversation her parents were having seemed to be made up of words of a different language, words whose meaning she couldn’t decipher if someone put a gun to her head. Even getting dressed became an unmanageable task. As they had gotten ready to leave their apartment one last time, she had had to look down to her feet twice to check if she really put on a skirt.<br/>
Clarissa wasn’t doing any better. She seemed confused and anxious, with her face being as pale as it had never been before. Their parents didn’t seem to make much of it. Elizabeth could only guess why. They weren’t indifferent to them, after all. But they couldn’t possibly know the secrets the sisters had shared in her room the night before. They must have been convinced that it was about Clarissa’s plans to change factions. It was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with – that they thought the sisters were just anxious about their inevitable separation.</p><p> </p><p>Now they were on their assigned spots, and their parents were seated across the room with the other families. With every name that was called out, a small shock went through Elizabeth’s spine. This had initially been an event she had been looking forward to – both for herself and for her sister. She had been so excited to prove herself to her faction and to find a place among her people, a place she truly belonged. Similarly, she had been hoping for Clarissa to do just the same, away from her but happier nevertheless. Now it didn’t look like either of them could achieve any of that. Clarissa couldn’t possibly transfer and Elizabeth would never be able to connect to Erudite the way she had hoped to with a secret this massive in the back of her mind.<br/>
Elizabeth noticed her sister’s breathing becoming more labored with every minute passing by. The ranks seemed to clear as more initiates made their choice. She was trying to think of something useful to whisper, to do – anything that would help, but she came up with nothing. This happened every time she got too anxious: she froze. It was one of her biggest insecurities that her supposed Erudite-brain failed her in situations where it was supposed to work even quicker and even more efficiently. When Clarissa's name was called out, Elizabeth gave her hand one last squeeze before letting her walk over to the stage.<br/>
Clarissa, who was usually more of the imposing kind, seemed so small and fragile under the spotlights, with her shoulders raised protectively and her head sunken down. The audience wasn’t paying too much attention at this point – most people had already made their choices. Only Abnegation’s transfers had caused a slight commotion in the hall, which had died down quickly by the raised hands and warning glances of each faction’s respective leaders. Elizabeth hoped that the diffusion of tension would help Clarissa in her next steps. There was no way she could lighten her burden from afar.<br/>
When Clarissa reached the bowls, she took the knife without hesitation. Her swift movements startled Elizabeth. Yet, it wasn’t until Clarissa turned around and looked at her that she started to panic. She knew the look in her eyes. It was a mixture of apologies and determination. Before Elizabeth could truly grasp what was going on in front of her, her sister had already cut her hand and placed it over a bowl. Only the sizzling sound and the ensuing cheering from a certain faction confirmed her worried guess: Clarissa had chosen Dauntless.</p><p> </p><p>It felt like something had knocked all air out of her lungs. Her movements seemed mechanical when she started making her way to the stage. She didn’t dare look around at her sister or even her parents. Her blood was pulsing audibly through her ears and she felt like she was about to faint.<br/>
Under different circumstances, this would have been great news. Now it felt like a curse. What had Clarissa been thinking? Elizabeth knew that she herself wasn’t anything but Erudite. She didn’t belong anywhere but in Erudite. But she also knew that she could not let her sister go like that. Not when there was a target on her back. Not when her sister didn’t know what she was up against. She couldn’t bear it. Elizabeth took the knife to her palm. With one last glance over to the bowl full of water, she let her blood drip onto the sizzling coals of Dauntless.</p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p> I’m so glad you made it this far, thank you.<br/>I hope this wasn’t too slow – I want to take my time to properly establish my characters. But to make up for it I will try to upload a bit more frequently in the beginning. I’d love for you to stick around! :)</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>